Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan for giving me an opportunity to speak.

While I hold the Government responsible for many things, I do not blame it for the weather, although I have been blamed for the weather in the past. Given that the weather and the damage it has caused have been so bad, the Government clearly does not have the capacity to solve all the problems. For the past century, the State has failed to give much thought to fighting coastal erosion. It would be interesting, therefore, if the Government would consider this issue.

It is disappointing to note the European Union is not prepared to provide us with substantial funding to address coastal erosion. The amount available to Ireland is less than 2% of the total available for this purpose. The European Union benefited from our status as an island community. In 2009, Chancellor Merkel stated that Ireland had benefited to the tune of €56 billion in European Union funds since 1973. EUROSTAT figures for the period from 1975 and 2010 show that the commercial value of Irish fisheries over that period was €201 billion, of which Ireland took a mere 11.8% or €17 billion. It would be nice if the EU were to consider returning some of the money it robbed from us through our fisheries. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, will be familiar with this issue, although to be fair to him he is doing his best to secure a better deal for us in fisheries.

We are not being treated fairly by Europe. The principle underpinning the European Community was that nations would look after each other and the central authorities would look after the smaller nations. Ireland is being shafted by being forced to bail out its banks to the tune of approximately €70 billion, while the European Union is prepared to provide only a pittance to address coastal erosion.

I submitted a question to the Minister on the dismantling of Courtown Pier. It was interesting to note comments addressed last week to the British Minister for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Mr. Owen Patterson, who was told that "skimping on flood defences is deeply false economy even in austere times: ministers admit each scheme saves £8 in damage for every £1 spent. The costs are now being counted". The Government should take this view on board and start to act on rather than react to coastal erosion problems. Taking action on Courtown Pier, for example, would be a good investment as it would save money in the long run.

In reply a parliamentary question about inshore fishermen in Wexford who lost 80% of their pots, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine pointed out that a range of grant aid schemes administered by Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM, are already available to inshore fishermen. When I contacted the fishermen who had raised the matter with me I was informed that the only grant they had ever received from Bord Iascaigh Mhara was for safety equipment. That is fair enough but its importance should not be exaggerated. The Minister's answer continued:

There have been some reports in the media about the loss, by some inshore fishermen, of their pots. It is not unusual for inshore fishermen to experience some pot losses through the winter. It is too early to fully determine the scale of the losses and if these were widespread. I am working with BIM to endeavour to assess the scale of losses that may have occurred.

He also noted that the "EU requires that any financial assistance provided by Government to the seafood sector must always be considered in terms of what is permissible under EU State Aid rules." This is a major problem and one of the reasons Irish people no longer find many EU rules attractive. The Government boasts that we can borrow money on the markets at an interest rate of 3.5%, which is good. Despite this, we are not allowed to borrow money build a bypass in New Ross, although we are allowed to build the bypass under a public private partnership, which would cost the State 20% more. The reason is that the costs would not immediately appear on the books, in other words, the European Union will allow us to invest in infrastructure provided we put the money in the pockets of investors and bondholders. This is unfair.

When Cathal Mac Coille asked the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, this morning if we could expect to see more millionaires from the United States buying properties here on the cheap, the Minister's response was that a number of people have invested in properties of Ireland, including a Chinese business family which bought Fota Island and a Russian lady who invested in the Morrison Hotel, and that what we needed was more of these types of investments.

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